


So Brightly Deceptive

by KiaraAlexisKlay



Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M, Klaroline Fall Bingo 2020, alternative universe, caroline not so secretly melts into goo for klaus, fluffy bit, it's the dimples, klaus is caroline trash, semi-canon compliant but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 10:22:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30070815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KiaraAlexisKlay/pseuds/KiaraAlexisKlay
Summary: Klaus swore he saw a hint of fang and dark veins as Caroline, having followed his hand, focused in on the candy mentioned and suddenly sneered as if she saw, tasted, and heard something foul.
Relationships: Caroline Forbes/Klaus Mikaelson
Comments: 6
Kudos: 28





	So Brightly Deceptive

“Did you forget about something, sweetheart?”

The furrow on his brow was prominent as Klaus frowned at the various options on the shelf before him after following her and her cart down this most recent aisle. He would hate it if he knew that she thought that little scrunch his nose did was cute and adorable, but fortunately for her, she hadn’t glimpsed as her attention was focused on the paper in her hand.

“Hmmm?” Caroline hummed around the pen gripped in her mouth, looking up from the list [of course] and the massive shopping cart loaded down with what was possibly every type of candy available and then some.

Eyes focusing on her companion, she was briefly distracted as she startled at his nearness and gave his form an appreciative look over.

Klaus preened under her approving once over, feeling the stirring of his dual monsters as they regarded the lithe blond beside them. He tried not to think too long on _why_ exactly he felt his wolf as an almost separate entity most often in Caroline’s presence.

The fact the wolf approved and seemed to not just enjoy but _crave_ said baby vampire’s regard was another concern Klaus tabled for later perusal.

“I’m sorry Klaus, I was marking things off the list; what did you say?”

The pretty flush adorning her cheeks that he knew from experience would trail down to the décolletage that was currently hidden from view by a Tulane branded pullover was almost enough to distract Klaus from himself.

The wolf in him wanted to lick and chase that flush and replace it with their marks.

_Behave,_ Klaus mentally scolded his wolf half. His vampire self never gave him these Kol-like levels of sass, though the pricking of his fangs against gums meant he wasn’t as unaffected by Caroline’s obvious perusal.

“It’s okay, Love. I merely asked if you forgot something?” and he gestured to the wall of candy in front of them Caroline had bypassed with barely a glance.

Klaus swore he saw a hint of fang and dark veins as Caroline, having followed his hand, focused in on the candy mentioned and suddenly sneered as if she saw, tasted, and heard something _foul_.

“ ** _Candy corn is disgusting!_** ” the blond gave an imperious sniff and literally turned her nose up, much to Klaus’ shock and amazed amusement. “There is _no way_ that I am buying _that_ crap for one of _my_ parties.”

Caroline had taken Tulane University by storm, literally and figuratively, when she transferred her sophomore year from Whitmore. A daring move he knew occurred only because the clever wench had figured out which officials he had [ _bribed, compelled_ ] **_influenced_** at Whitmore and a week after they had disappeared on a sudden, end of semester faculty only bonding trip, vervain-less and sporting new compulsions of their own, he only heard about the baby vampire’s move to Louisiana scant days _before_ the Fall semester at the beginning of her sophomore year.

And she had been there, establishing herself and building a network of allies, all on her own, since the summer.

Tulane had no idea what had hit it when Caroline Elizabeth Forbes set up house on campus. Being a part of New Orleans and catering to youth from diverse ethnicities and over 58 countries, there was also a higher complement of supernaturally inclined or adjacent than the pitiful variety offered on her home turf.

His chosen paramour had not just succeeded but thrived, and all the supernaturals on campus had found out – through Caroline’s own strength and scheming – that she was no one’s fresh meat. The head cheerleader and leader of the sorority Caroline had found herself pledged to – coincidentally also a vampire, one of Marcel’s sirelings – found this out to her own detriment.

The strength of her seniority over Caroline’s few years – it never ceased to amaze him at the knowledge of Caroline’s youth – both human and vampire – was no match for the sheer experience, both combat and otherwise, that Caroline had in facing a supposedly superior being and using that underestimation to her advantage. Experiences such as a traumatic transition, all on her own; a sire who could and didn’t care about her and purposefully did everything in his albeit limited power to kill her – and when that didn’t happen, demean and demoralize, to use and abuse.

Caroline, who had suffered so much torture from the outset at the hands of people who should have supported her. Facing off against hordes of witches, hostile werewolves, vastly superior hybrids, Silas, his family … it was impressive considering this all occurred within the _first four years_ of transitioning.

It had taken everything in him to not interfere, knowing that it was important, not just for Caroline’s self-confidence, but also her future safety and acceptance of her place at his side to be able to handle situations as they arose without his family name to fall back on. If she was to be his Queen one day, she needed to be able to stand on her own reputation.

Caroline’s pet vampire, that obnoxious St. John fellow who had the unfortunate lack of taste by calling the elder Salvatore a friend, was an unexpected boon as he boasted of how Caroline helped take down the Augustine Society, who’s reach extended even this far and set supernatural entities alike with worry that they would be next if Augustine succeeded in removing vampires as a threat.

That being said, Marcel’s progeny did not last a month, and it only took that long because Caroline had established herself quite nicely with both the humans and other supernaturals, networking like the little social queen bee he knew she could be. Outside the lesser doppelganger’s sphere of magical influence, Caroline’s take charge, no nonsense attitude ruffled fewer feathers than expected, the quality of people able to see past small town bias and take the blond dynamo for what she meant, not how she presented it.

And this world will always have followers in need of a leader, and Caroline offered that. Although he wasn’t exactly pleased at the amount of riff-raff who seemed to find safe harbor under Caroline’s leadership.

Tulane University required community service of its students and faculty, and all of Caroline’s previous experiences participating in and then later heading up the various fundraiser and committees served her well, indeed. The stunning references she – or he for that matter – had no reason to compel from her tenure in Mystic Falls helped to contribute to her new positioning at Tulane’s student hierarchy. References she had earned on her own merits, Klaus felt no small amount of pride at that fact.

If she wasn’t the head of said hierarchy, she was most certainly at the top, and it wouldn’t be long before she was _reine régnante_. This candy raid was a result of one of the outreaches she was a part of. 

“I didn’t realize,” Klaus drawled, finally able to find his voice. He clenched his hands behind his back in an effort not to make a grab for the pert cheerleader.

He tried very hard to keep things in check in public. Partially because he knew Caroline wasn’t quite ready yet for the kind of commitment – the kind of enemies – such a statement would bring about.

“Well, now you do. If you don’t believe me, you are more than welcome to try those…foul excuses of candy out for yourself. Using your _own_ money. On _your_ _own_ _receipt_ ,” she emphasized with a glare, as if even the act of purchasing this candy would somehow taint her other purchases.

“Well now,” Klaus’s brows shot up. “With that sort of challenge, how can I refuse?”

“It’s your tastebud's rebellion,” she shrugged, giving him one last, decisive nod before going back to her cart, protectively he observed, and began to push it out the aisle.

Chuckling, Klaus swiped the smallest packet of the supposedly offending candy he could fin d. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe Caroline…but that just made him even more curious.

Tossing the small packet in the air and humming as he caught it, he followed after Caroline’s wake, chuckling as his hearing picked up on Caroline’s exasperated, “Klaus! Stop dawdling!”

“Coming, love!” he called out, still tossing his prize lazily.

~-~

Later on, Klaus would spit out the offensive morsel and glare at the rest of the pack, mocking him with their bright and deceptive coloring.

**_“Candy corn_ ** **is _disgusting!”_**

**Author's Note:**

> Klaroline Fall Bingo 2020 / Prompt: Candy Corn Is Disgusting


End file.
